sword sentient beings

Chapter 260 Betrayal and Answer

These five words were written on a narrow piece of paper.

The handwriting is ugly, to the point where the handwriting can't be seen at all, trembling from the first stroke, the more you write, the more scribbled, the last escape character is hardly formed, and the last stroke almost flies up, dragging out a long Trailing tail, there is no more behind it, it seems that the writer can no longer write a single stroke.

Tang Zhao looked left and right, staring at the note, as if he wanted to see these five words forever.

Then, he put down the note and saw the dazed Jiang Shenyi.

Jiang Shenyi was angry and at a loss, he was the one who smashed the cup and plate just now, and it was also he who was sitting on the table dumbfounded now.

At this moment, it is difficult to describe the mood with one emotion.

The two looked at each other for a long time, Jiang Shenyi finally said: "What do you mean?"

Tang Zhao opened his mouth, but finally he could only repeat: "Eldest brother has defected."

Jiang Shenyi's voice became hoarse: "What is defection...how is it considered defection? How does senior brother defect?"

He repeated it several times in a row, and Tang Zhao knew what he meant—for Zhuoyu Villa, what should the elder brother do to be considered a defector?
Zhuoyu Villa is not an army, nor is it a secret organization, so why would anyone defect or not?

Back then the second senior brother had a big quarrel with his master, he went down the mountain by himself and never came back for several years, now Xue Xianyun would yell at him when he mentioned him, but does this count as his defection?

Eldest brother and master are as close as father and son. Even if some conflict breaks out and they run away in a rage, even if they smash something or even hurt someone, at most the master will scold him or even fire him out, but it won’t matter after all. Defect right?

What exactly did he do?
Jiang Shenyi's eyes moved slightly, and he suddenly pointed at the owl on the table and said, "I remembered! That's... big... Shi Chunqing's owl!"

Tang Zhao nodded. He didn't recognize it at first, but he remembered those words after seeing those words.That was the gift that Xue Yeyu gave to senior brother when they celebrated Shi Chunqing's birthday when they left Zhuoyu Villa.

The situation at that time is still vivid.

Jiang Shenyi was a little anxious, and said: "What is it doing here? Delivering a letter? Sending you a letter alone? What is written in the letter?"

Xue Yeyu's letter was for the two of them, and Shi Chunqing's letter was for Tang Zhao.

After the owl came in, it went directly to Tang Zhao, and made it clear that it was a private letter to Tang Zhao.

Moreover, it will not leave after putting down the letter.Before, Tang Zhao thought that the bird of prey was hungry and wanted to recuperate.But after reading the letter, he suddenly realized——

If it doesn't leave, it should be Shi Chunqing's order, don't go back after delivering the letter.

Maybe it was to prevent tracking, or maybe it was to show that everything with Zhuoyu Villa must be cut off.

Resisting the ups and downs of his mood, Tang Zhao calmly opened the thin bamboo tube, and also took out a piece of paper, which suddenly changed color when he saw it. He stretched out his hand and squeezed the paper into a ball, his fingers trembling slightly.

Jiang Shenyi was startled instead, he found that Tang Zhao had already left the anger.

It's not surprising that Tang Zhao was angry, and Jiang Shenyi was also angry, but when he just saw the words that Shi Chunqing defected, he was obviously not that angry.

What did Shi Chunqing write to him that made him so angry all of a sudden?

Shi Chunqing defected and did not write letters to anyone else, but Tang Zhao. Could it be that there is still something unfair, just to ridicule him?
Jiang Shenyi was a little curious, stepped forward to take the note that was almost crushed by Tang Zhao, unfolded it, and found that there were two lines of words, but a couplet:
"Ten years of hard work and no one asked, and I became famous all over the world in one fell swoop."

In addition, there is no beginning, no end, and no signature.It should be Shi Chunqing's handwriting - Jiang Shenyi doesn't recognize Shi Chunqing's handwriting.

This is……

Jiang Shenyi seemed to understand, but also didn't seem to understand, said: "Is this his confession? He felt that the mountain was too hard, he paid too much, and no one cared about him, so he did such a thing?"

Although Jiang Shenyi didn't think much about it before, but these two sentences are very straightforward and not difficult to understand.

Did you defect because you felt it was unfair?
It's possible, but... why? !

"It's a confession, and it's also my answer."

Tang Zhao replied that he was still furious and wanted to take something from the table and throw it, but unfortunately Jiang Shenyi threw it all the way, leaving him full of depression.

"On his birthday that day, I wrote him a couplet—"

"The edge of the sword comes from sharpening, and the fragrance of plum blossom comes from the bitter cold."

"When he left, he gave me another answer. It's just these two sentences——Damn it!" Tang Zhao finally hammered the table hard, making a thumping sound.

Jiang Shenyi wondered: "Isn't this a good word of blessing? He said that he will be rewarded for his hard work, and he will surely come to the end of all hardships. Why did he answer you specifically? Could it be that he felt that you are not worthy of encouraging him when you stand up and talk, so he wrote to refute it?" You? Wait—"

He turned half a circle on the spot, "No, it's too weird. Your questions and answers seem to have a tacit understanding that others don't understand. Is your relationship so good? Or...you have already noticed it when you were on the mountain. Is there something wrong with him? Is there even a guess?"

The more he thought about it, the more he was right, he stretched out his hand and grabbed Tang Zhao, and said, "I guess right? Tang Zhao?!"

Tang Zhao met his eyes, and after a while, nodded slightly.

Jiang Shenyi was furious, pushed him hard, and said, "You bastard! You already guessed...why didn't you tell your mentor? Why didn't you tell us? Are you with him?"

Tang Zhao asked, "Who said I didn't tell Master? Since I noticed it, why didn't I tell Master?"

Jiang Shenyi was stunned, and said: "You told your mentor? Then why..."

Still make it like this?
Tang Zhao didn't answer, but said, "As for you...how should I tell you? How should I tell the other fellows? I just noticed something was wrong at the time. At that time, the senior brother left for a year and brought back the precious materials that master used to forge swords." Bitter cold air'. Master also gave me a little bit. When I analyzed it, I found that the bitter cold air was not pure, but mixed with a part of "aversion to cold air" that was similar in nature but diametrically opposite. Forging a sword with this air will definitely fail at the last moment."

That night when he threw the bitter cold air into the pool, the fairy actually came up twice, the first time was for the bitter cold air, and the second time was for the aversion to cold air, from then on he guessed——Shi Chunqing had something wrong.

In fact, earlier, didn't he notice the signs?
After a year, when Shi Chunqing came back from Liangzhou in the north, he was hunted down by bandits from Baixiong Mountain in Lingzhou in the south, isn't it strange?One south and one north, the roads are completely different, and it is difficult to go around. How could his enemy be Baixiong Mountain?And at that time, he only had the material of bitter cold air. Although it was precious, it was the material of a standard swordsmith. The bandits in Baixiong Mountain were looking for wealth, so what do they want these materials for?
Furthermore, when it came to dealing with the captured Baixiong Mountain thieves, Shi Chunqing wanted to kill them all without questioning them, as if in a hurry to silence them.Shopkeeper Liu didn't kill all of them directly, but wanted to torture them, but in the end, these bandits committed suicide one after another. How is this like a bandit?Clearly like a dead man.

The involvement in this is hard to explain.

This is still a well-founded suspicion, if there is no basis... Tang Zhao felt a little uneasy about every word and deed that came back from Shi Chunqing.

However, with these things, can you testify against the senior brother who has worked hard for Zhuoyu Villa for twenty or thirty years?
Don't talk about these pretentious things, even if it is a bad cold, there is a lot of room for sophistry, just say that it was a moment of carelessness, the collected materials were not pure, or it was accidentally polluted, at most an apology, so what can I do? ?

On the contrary, Tang Zhao, although he is loved by his brothers and sisters, if he confronts the senior brother, even if he has some evidence, as long as there is no ironclad evidence, he will definitely not win.

A villa is like a family. In a family, whoever is reasonable can win?Isn't it whoever is close to everyone wins?
Originally, Tang Zhao planned to make insinuations, and even sent a letter to Master to call the police to remind him before leaving, but after much deliberation, he still secretly met with Master at night and confessed everything he knew.There was no reply until he left.

The result is still like this.

Don't look at Jiang Shenyi's anger at this moment, if Tang Zhao had given him all the clues and told him his guesses, it would not be certain whose side Jiang Shenyi was on.

It was only at this moment that he resumed the game with his senior brother.

"In fact, the elder brother has been very strange since he came back. He sighed and said that he was not talented enough and wasted his time. He was full of envy for the younger brothers and sisters who were more talented, and his frustration was beyond words. This may be his true feelings. , but mentioning it again and again is like making such a determination."

"Really..." Jiang Shenyi frowned, deeply recalling that Shi Chunqing actually had a lot of contact with him after returning to the mountain, and he was the one who brought the injured Shi Chunqing back to the mountain villa, but... was there something wrong at that time?
Tang Zhao said seriously: "Yes. When I didn't find out that he really had evil intentions, I thought he was just depressed and worried, so I had a stupid idea. Is it because we don't care too much about big things? Brother? He takes care of us year after year, teaches us knowledge, gives us gifts, and cares about our lives, but although we respect him, we seldom really get close to him. For example... I chatted with him the other day It was only on Junior Sister Hua's birthday that I found out that he and Junior Sister Hua had the same birthday. But I never knew. I celebrate Junior Sister Hua's birthday every year, but never for him."

Jiang Shenyi was stunned, and said softly: "This idea...isn't stupid. I don't know his birthday either. I'm years earlier than you, but I never thought of asking. I don't know him at all. Senior brother... ...It’s like a father and brother to me, I just think he is a good senior brother who takes care of us, tolerates us, and helps us..."

"But—" Jiang Shenyi suddenly said angrily: "If he really feels disappointed and unfair, he will naturally tire of us, hate us, and alienate us, why would he betray his teacher?"

Tang Zhao shook his head, how did he know about the entanglement between Shi Chunqing and Xue Xianyun?He just followed the stupid idea in his heart and tried his best to remedy it in stupid ways, such as calling everyone together to have a lively birthday for the senior brother, and everyone gathered around him to bless him, give him gifts, and let Shi Chunqing know that we brothers and sisters Not really heartless, everyone loves you.

Another example, sending him that pair of couplets is not a chicken soup for encouragement, but a reminder to Shi Chunqing that no matter how we young people ignore you, Master always values ​​you the most, and you are the most important thing in his heart, no one else can compare .He treats you so well, is there going to be a lifelong regret between you?
In the end, however, a stupid solution is a stupid solution, and it may cover up some flaws, but it cannot restore the broken mirror.

It's hard to get overwhelmed!

Fortunately, Tang Zhao was not stupid. He chose to remind Xue Xianyun positively after all. On the night before he went down the mountain, he entered the Gongyu Hall alone.

As a result, if he put it mildly, Xue Xianyun became furious and chased him all the way, Tang Zhao had no choice but to flee down the mountain overnight, and let the old man figure it out for himself.

Maybe he was too reserved.

Regardless of whether it was Thunder's method or emotion, Xue Xianyun did not handle this matter properly, and the matter has come to this day anyway.He was not a clever person, otherwise how could a master and apprentice who are like father and son come to this day?
Who knows whether his handling resolves or stimulates the conflict?

Or it was unresolved from the start.

"I don't know what's going on on the mountain..." Tang Zhao thought of this, only worrying, "Let's put down other things first, let's go back to the mountain!"

(End of this chapter)